Vicious Trust

A Discussion With Many Threats

        "Mariah, job well done." My boss praises as I step into the office. "Your report?"
The office is a good size, big enough to fit at least two people comfortably. The walls are painted gray, with black framed gray paintings hanging from the wall, depicting old-fashioned cars, trucks, and buildings. The desk sitting in the corner facing me is just old, polished oak wood with a few drawers that has brass yellow knobs, scoring the top spot as the most colorful thing in the room. The floor is dark brown oak planks, and the door I had just walked through was also old polished oak, with a yellowish brass knob. My boss himself, a balding average height middle aged man in a black suit and tie, with classy black pointed shoes and pale skin. His voice is deep and stern, like a if-you-step-one-toe-out-of-line-I-will-kill-you kind of guy. A cigar hangs from his mouth, causing smoke to wreath around his face.
"Give me those gloves," I spit.
He ignores me and raises an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Mph." I roll my eyes. "It went well, sir." I report. "The cops will never know what happened. Samuel Addamson is no longer with us."
"You may go," my boss says, "dismissed." He spits out his cigar.
"Wait, hold on. My payment, remember? Where is it?" I pause. "Oh, and those new gloves."
My boss raises his eyebrows, his chocolate brown eyes piercing me through. "No payment, not yet. And no gloves."
"What?" I explode. "I did the job right, and I want my payment! I want my payment more than those gloves, so forget them. BUT, I need to get paid!"
"Too bad, sweetheart. Your payment comes when you do an extra small thing for me. Mayor Darcy Brown's gonna track people like us down. She says it's in her interest to "protect" the people. I'm thinking I should lay low, after targeting Browns' best friend."
"Yes," I respond drily. "But it's not in my preference that you don't pay me." I take out an obsidian black dagger and point it at him. "You know, me being a great spy, you should respect my choices if you want me to keep working for you. I won't risk my life for you, I'm here to get paid well, not to get thrown into the dirt like a worthless piece of trash."
         "Well," my boss says, smiling. "If you do this one teensie thing for me, you'll get fifty more." His smile grows wider as he proposes the deal. That smile makes me want to punch him square in the face. His teeth are grimy shadows matching the esthetic of the room perfectly.
         I stare at him, hard. "I will not become your pawn," I say coolly. "You originally promised me five hundred. And that's the most you were willing to offer." I slam my hand down on the table. "I want my payment before I do my next mission. You swore on it. That's low, Elias, dangerous, even for you."
Elias glares at me. "Firstly, call me boss." He says, his tone a tiger ready to pounce. "Second, I need you to rob Browns' home and steal some papers for the right to the run-down Hall. Take jewelry, statues, heck, you can even steal some clothes for yourself, but remember the real mission." My boss leans forward, close enough for me to see every spot of grime on his teeth. "This is a secret," my boss whispers. "Darcy's gonna own Stacy Hall, where they used to throw those big parties, but it shut down. You know it?"
         "Of course I do, but what's important about it?" I sheath my dagger, rolling my eyes, and flicking my tail.
         "I'm getting to it."
          "And what does this have to do with me?"
         My boss purses his lips. "I need some papers from Brown, the right to Stacy Hall. You see, the previous owner has no existing family, and he died. The owner of the building was going to sell the building to her, so that leaves it in the hands of Darcy, if she has enough money to pay the town, since it now belongs to them."
         "Oh, so I have to take these papers and... do what with them?" I ask.
        "Burn them," Elias grunts. "I got some guys hacking her bank account. He rubs his hands together. "Soon she'll be broke!" He stiffens. "But, I need someone to retrieve those papers, and no one will."
"Well," I flatten my ears. "That sounds like a you problem."
         My boss pointedly ignores that, and continues. "That's one reason, and the other is Darcy wants to turn Stacy Hall into a place that tracks us down. Her house needs to be damaged so severely that she won't be able to sell before she pays about thirty thousand on refurnishing. Once Darcy realizes she no money to buy it, the town will own it until they sell to someone else. So, she'll be so overwhelmed with losing her friend, and going broke, that she'll step down as mayor.
         "I get this plan, but I want my payment. I won't fall for your schemes, Elias. Not again." I draw my dagger again and set it on the table, just in my reach. "Remember when you originally promised me fifty but I ended up with ten? Not happening."
         "Look, I can't pay you the full price I promised, okay?"
         "I don't know why I thought you would be a good boss, Elias."
         "Well, it would certainly be a shame if your picture turned up at the Sheriffs Office," Elias drawls.
         Oh, shoot. I cursed under my breath.
         Elias gives me a faint smile. The smile trailed off, replaced by a menacing snarl. "You may go," he growled. 
I grab my dagger and shove open the door, face red, fist clenched around my dagger.
"Oh, and here are those gloves." Elias tosses them to me; special gloves inlaid with fingerprints other than my own.